“This is not a position that has been strongly represented in this school historically,” [said Professor Kathleen James-Chakraborty, who believes] The crux of the issue is whether courses that champion diversity in architecture should be taught as optional, specialized seminars or integrated into the curriculum of the school.
— yaledailynews.com

Now with Deborah Berke as dean, the Yale School of Architecture is working to offer more courses focusing on women in architecture such as “Expanding the Canon: Making Room for Other Voices”, an optional seminar that would've been taught by visiting professor Kathleen James-Chakraborty. But... View full entry »

The one and only Phyllis Lambert continues to rake in architecture honors from around the globe. She received the American Academy's Brunner Memorial Prize this past April and was bestowed the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement during the 2014 Venice Biennale. Most recently, the former Canadian Centre for Architecture Director has been honored with the 2016 Wolf Prize in Israel. Past laureates include Eduardo Souto de Moura, David Chipperfield, and Peter Eisenman.
— Bustler

More on Archinect:Phyllis Lambert recognized with 2016 Arnold W. Brunner Memorial PrizePhyllis Lambert named as 2014 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement recipientPhyllis Lambert steps down from Canadian Centre for Architecture View full entry »

"And to me, as an African American, just realizing that this has actually come to be, that there's an actual National Museum for African American History and Culture on the Mall of Washington, D.C., and this museum should have happened years and years ago, but the realization that finally in America we're at a place where we can accept it ... It's one of the most prominent sites on the Mall. It's not somewhere tucked away.
— Zena Howard, on Curbed

Architect Zena Howard talks about what first drew her to architecture, the National Museum for African American History and Culture on which she worked as Senior Project Manager, and her outlook on the status of women in architecture.More on Archinect:Read an excerpt from the new “Where Are the... View full entry »

After Ms. Hadid died on March 31 at 65, The New York Times, in an informal online questionnaire, asked female architects among its readers to talk candidly about their experiences in the profession: the progress they’ve made and the obstacles they still face on construction sites and in client meetings. Below are edited excerpts from a few of some 200 responses we received.
— The New York Times

Architecture, already a tough field, can be even more challenging if you happen to be female. As Christine Matheu from Bloomington, Indiana recalls in this article, “There was a time when women were not allowed to be members of the Century Club. About that same time, as a young architect... View full entry »

As the stories of Hadid and Scott Brown show, the pairing of architecture prizes (or at least the big ones) and women raises hackles. Hadid won the Pritzker Prize amid talk that she did not deserve it; Scott Brown did not win the prize amid talk that she did not deserve it. No solo female architect has won the Pritzker Prize since Hadid, nor has a husband-and-wife architectural team ever been honored. Indeed, to date, of the 39 Pritzker Prize laureates, only two (or about 5 percent) are women.
— Despina Stratigakos

Excerpted from her new book, Despina Stratigakos sheds some light on the Pritzker's lack of awarding women architects in their own right.More on Archinect:Despina Stratigakos on the emerging "third wave of feminism" in architectureWhy Zaha Hadid's gender and ethnicity mattered so muchWhy... View full entry »

"It's a triple whammy," [Hadid] told the BBC Radio 4 in February. "I'm a woman, which is a problem to many people. I'm a foreigner — another problem. And I do work which is not normative, which is not what they expect. Together, it becomes difficult."

Like any high-profile architect, Hadid was expected to produce strong, functional designs. But as a woman, she also faced the added pressure of having her work interpreted as some sort of gender statement.
— Los Angeles Times

More on Archinect:Zaha on Zaha: "I always thought, you know, I should do well because the work is good."“We just loved her”: Frank Gehry remembers Zaha HadidFun game: spot the double-standards in this Zaha-bashing piece!Zaha Hadid: 'Being an Arab and a woman is a double-edged sword' View full entry »

In 2000, women represented 13 percent of registered architects; today, that number stands at 19 percent. If this rate of progress holds, we’ll have to wait until 2093 before we reach a 50-50 gender split...Yet numbers alone won’t ensure retention if architecture’s gender-biased professional culture remains unchanged. Ten or 20 years from now, we may still be asking ourselves, 'Where are the women architects?'
— Metropolis Magazine

Leila Araghian was 26 when she came up with Tabiat bridge. Five years on, the 270-metre structure is a reality, despite sanctions, garnering awards and paving the way for a new, more avant garde generation of Iranian designers [...]

Tabiat (“nature”) bridge, the largest of its kind in Iran, was architect Leila Araghian’s first project. She designed it five years ago while a student, winning a local competition for a plan to connect two parks separated by a highway in north Tehran.
— theguardian.com

Nowhere in the world has a city yet been conceived and constructed along the lines that these women planners would like. Nowhere in the world do women, and others who share the inclusive goals of gender planning, have the political power or access to capital that such an urban renewal project would require.
— The Guardian

Archinect remains committed to addressing the gender gap in architecture. If you haven't already, listen to our first podcast, which was devoted to the subject. View full entry »

Landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson of Seattle-based Gustafson Guthrie Nichol and London's Gustafson Porter recently received the eighth annual Obayashi Prize in Tokyo. Established by the Obayashi Foundation, the prize is awarded to a recipient whose work is in tune with the Foundation's mission of supporting interdisciplinary design research in relation to cities and urbanism.
— bustler.net

Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC by GUSTAFSON GUTHRIE NICHOLDiana, Princess of Wales Memorial in Hyde Park, London UK by GUSTAFSON PORTERFind out more on Bustler. View full entry »

The latest entry in the Showcase: series featured Barkow Leibinger's Stadthaus M1, located in the "sustainable model district" of Vauban in the already so-called "green city" of Freiburg. Plus, Nicholas Korody looked at Factory Berlin, a "start-up campus" hosted by Google, built on a site where... View full entry »

Sheila Kennedy — a principal of KVA MATx and the first woman to hold the title of Professor of the Practice of Architecture at MIT’s School of Architecture & Planning — was announced today as the 2014 recipient of the Berkeley-Rupp Prize.Awarded every two years by the UC Berkeley... View full entry »

Being a woman practicing in the fields of architecture, engineering, construction and the like is already a triumph in itself — let alone leading the design and construction of a built project. To honor this, the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation just launched Built By Women NYC, a... View full entry »

The Architects' Journal (UK) announced Francine Houben, creative director and founder of Dutch firm Mecanoo, as the recipient of the AJ Woman Architect of the Year 2014. The award honors design excellence and strong leadership among women in architecture.Houben received the prestigious... View full entry »

This 56-minute documentary film features interviews with nineteen Arab architects from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia. It explores the subject of the practice of architecture by Arab women architects and features stories on their experiences, challenges, and achievements. In order to facilitate viewing, the film is divided into six sequels.
— Center for the Study of the Built Environment

The film was first screened during the Award's sixth cycle ceremony, which took place on January 7, 2014 at the German Jordanian University's Othman Bdeir House for Architecture and Design in Amman, Jordan. View full entry »